Associate Protection Officer at UNHCR Rwanda: (Deadline 10 April 2023)

Associate Protection Officer Organizational Setting and Work Relationships The Associate Protection Officer reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. Depending on the size and structure of the Office, the incumbent may have supervisory responsibility for protection staff including community-based protection registration, resettlement and education. S/he provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities. These include: statelessness (in line with the campaign to End Statelessness by 2024), Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) commitments, age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP) through community-based protection, Child protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, gender equality, disability inclusion, youth empowerment, psycho-social support and PSEA, registration, asylum/refugee status determination, resettlement, local integration, voluntary repatriation, human rights standards integration, national legislation, judicial engagement, predictable and decisive engagement in situations of internal displacement and engagement in wider mixed movement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses. S/he supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards. The Associate Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern, ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. The incumbent contributes to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. S/he also ensures that persons of concern are meaningfully engaged in the decisions that affect them and support programme design and adaptations that are influenced by the concerns, priorities and capacities of persons of concern. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection. All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity. Duties – Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment. – Promote International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct. – Foster their consistent and coherent interpretation and application through mainstreaming in all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations. – Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to persons of concern. – Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation. – Conduct eligibility and status determination for persons of concern in compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles. – Promote and contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness. – Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy to ensure programmes use a child protection systems approach. – Contribute to a country-level education plan. – Implement and oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities which integrate AGD sensitive procedures. – Oversee and manage individual protection cases, including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners. – Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of persons of concern through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement. – Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other persons of concern. – Participate in the organisation and implementation of participatory assessments and methodologies throughout the operations management cycle and promote AGD sensitive programming with implementing and operational partners. – Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy through a consultative process with sectorial and/or cluster partners. – Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems. – Promote and integrate community-based approaches to protection and contribute to capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights. – Support activities in the area of risk management related to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, fraud, case-processing, data protection, and human rights due diligence at country level. – Participate in initiatives to capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures. – Intervene with authorities on protection issues. – Negotiate locally on behalf of UNHCR. – Decide priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals. – Enforce compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services. – Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures. – Perform other related duties as required. Minimum Qualifications Years of Experience / Degree Level For P2/NOB – 3 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 2 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 1 year relevant experience with Doctorate degree Field(s) of Education Law, International Law, Political Sciences or other relevant field (Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential) Certificates and/or Licenses Protection Learning Programme (Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential) Relevant Job Experience Essential Professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law. Good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles. Desirable Field experience, including in working directly with communities. Good IT skills including database management skills. Functional Skills *PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators *PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination MG-Project Management PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards PR-International Humanitarian Law PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement CO-Drafting and Documentation (Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential) Language Requirements For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English. For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language. For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English. All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power. As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise. This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

• Education: University degree in Law, International Law, Political Sciences or related
field.
• Job Experience:
Minimum of 4 years of relevant professional experience with Advanced
University/Master’s Degree (4 years with University/Bachelor’s Degree).
• Work experience in Results Based Management, including monitoring and
reporting
• Experience working in emergency settings is an asset.
• Experience with ProGresV4, GBVIMS and CPIMS is an asset.
• Languages: Excellent knowledge of English and good working knowledge of another
UN language.
The shortlisted candidates may be required to sit for a written test.

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

Nature of Position:

The UNHCR Representation Office in Rwanda principally provides protection and assistance to the refugee population (main refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (60%) who have been on the Rwandan territory since 1996 and Burundian refugees (40%) who have been arriving in the country further to the volatile situation in Burundi since April 2015) and very few from other nationalities, in addition to the returnee population of Rwandan refugees returning after many years in exile. It is composed of the Branch Office in Kigali and Field Offices in Huye, Karongi, Kabarore, Kirehe, and Nyamata. It hosts approximately 127,000 refugees in three protracted refugee camps, namely Nyabiheke,  Kiziba, Kigeme, and Mugombwa as well as Mahama which is the main camp hosting Burundian as well as some Congolese. This is in addition to more than 9000 refugees and asylum seekers residing in urban settings namely in Kigali, Huye, and Bugesera districts. Since April 2015, UNHCR is also supporting reception and transit centers (Gatore, Nyanza, Nyagatare, Nyarushishi, these facilities are equipped to receive new arrivals as well as Rwandan returnees. Recently in November 2022, a new emergency reception facility was established to receive Congolese asylum seekers fleeing the conflict in Eastern DRC. Nkamira TC as of the 9th of March hosts 3845 and more than 1700 were relocated to Mahama. Rwanda also continues to receive evacuees from Libya who is accommodated in Naymata under the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) which was established in 2019 based on an MOU signed by UNHCR, Rwanda GoV, and the AUO.

The incumbent of this position is expected to work under the direct supervision of the Protection Officer (P3) based in Kigali and will be required to play a leading role in planning, implementing, monitoring, and assessing direct operational support in these two specialized areas of protection. H/She may require conducting frequent visits to the field, assessing programs, providing guidance, strengthening capacity, and identifying opportunities for program & funding expansion. Apart from the provision of technical support, he/she will be required to coordinate CP and GBV-related interventions among UNHCR CP and GBV focal points, partners, and Government stakeholders on different forums as well as direct case management and supervision of CP and GBV cases in Kigali urban.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

PR-Child Protection Prevention and Response Programming, PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) response programming

BA: International Law (Required), BA: Law (Required), BA: Political Science (Required)

Certifications

HCR Protection Learning Program – UNHCR

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Additional Information

https://unhcr.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External/job/Kigali-Rwanda/Associate-Protection-Officer_JR2315948-1?locationCountry=db69d806446c11de98360015c5e6daf6